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Somatic Therapy

“Our bodies contain our histories – every chapter, line, and verse of every event and relationship in our lives”
                                                                                                                     - Caroline Myss

Somatic Therapy is a transformative approach to therapy which relies on the mind-body connection to support clients in processing and healing from psychological and emotional distress. Somatic means “body based” or “body oriented”, so these modalities will include body-based techniques like mindfulness, breath work, posture, and movement.

Somatic therapy modalities are based on a few core beliefs. First, that people have an innate ability to heal. Second, that experiences (both positive and painful) are stored in the body, not only the mind. Third, that change happens in the here-and-now. Fourth, that by paying attention the body, in the here-and-now, we can create lasting change at the nervous system level. Finally, that change in the body supports holistic change in thought, feeling, behaviour, and relational patterns.

The primary goals of somatic therapy are nervous system  

regulation and integration, or wholeness, of self. It is important to note that a regulated nervous system is not one that is calm and peaceful at all times. Rather, a regulated nervous system is a coping nervous system – one that can ride the waves of intense emotion, protect itself by activating in response to threats, reach out for support and comfort when needed, and return to calmness once the threat has passed. When we experience intensely distressing emotional or physical events that overwhelm our ability to cope, our system protects us by disconnecting from our body. While this strategy was once essential for our survival, it often leaves us feeling fragmented, broken, or like we have lost parts of ourselves. What makes somatic therapy transformative is its focus on regulation and the mind-body connection as a tools to support the reintegration of these fragmented parts into a whole, cohesive sense of self.

Using somatic therapy techniques, your therapist will help you tune into your body’s messaging – often in the form of sensation, tensions, and movements – to deepen your understanding of your experiences, behaviour, and relationships. You will learn how to regulate through and process painful experiences by integrating their somatic expression with your cognitive understanding, giving holistic, and often new, meaning to the experiences that have shaped you.  With embodied awareness and new insights into yourself and your experiences, you will have greater choice and flexibility in how you want to show up for yourself, the people in your life, and in the world.

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Emotion Regulation

When trying to think, reframe, and reason your way out of distressing emotional experiences isn’t working, somatic therapy can help you learn how to use your body, alongside your mind, to regulate your emotions. Learn how to understand what your body is telling you and to communicate with your body in a language that it understands by tuning in and responding to distressing experiences using body-based regulation strategies.

Trauma

Trauma often results from events that are too much, too fast, or too soon – overwhelming our ability to cope with, process, and make meaning of our experience. As a result, our nervous system finds safety the only way they can, by disconnecting from the present moment and, therefore, the body. These experiences, while disconnected, stay in the body, unprocessed and alive. Somatic therapy helps to process these traumatic events, reduce their impact on day-to-day functioning, and integrate your experiences to create a cohesive and empowered sense of sense of self.

Relationships

Sometimes overthinking intensifies our problems and talking just leads to further misunderstandings. Integrating somatic therapy into your relational work supports self and co-regulation by helping you and your partner(s) attune to one another’s nervous systems and bodies, without getting caught up in arguing. Learn how to use mindfulness, breath, and safe touch to deepen your connection as you navigate the painful, beautiful, and vulnerable parts of relational work.

Suite 402, Willow Park Centre,

10325 Bonaventure Drive SE
Calgary, Alberta T2J 7E4

403-910-6643

Ample free parking available

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